Michael Bisping has no problem telling you how he feels. And if you’re trying to take his championship belt, even better.

Bisping not only reigns over the UFC’s middleweight division, he’s arguably the top pound-for-pound trash-talker in the sport.

For several months now, the Orange County resident by way of England has delighted in verbally cracking former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre, Saturday night’s opponent in the UFC 217 main event at Madison Square Garden.

With his British accent and razor-sharp wit, Bisping enjoys sparring outside the Octagon just as much as inside, often enraging fans and playing the role of villain to the hilt.

But when asked about himself? “The Count” suddenly gets a bit tongue-tied.

“See, that’s a hard one,” Bisping said with a laugh last week. “I want to say a ton of good stuff! But then I look like an absolute (jerk). ‘Oh, he’s great, he’s awesome, can talk about himself in third person for half an hour!'”

For all his running down of other fighters, the 38-year-old, who became the first English fighter to win a UFC championship in June 2016 when on two weeks’ notice he knocked out Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 at The Forum in Inglewood, has just one word to describe himself.

Misunderstood.

“A lot of the time, I’m just being sarcastic or tongue in cheek and a lot of it is taken out of context,” Bisping said. “People out here – I love living here – fair play, I’m fighting Americans predominantly in America, I should get booed. So, I get a tough time but it’s all good.”

In order to improve his training, Bisping made the decision six years ago to move his family from Manchester, England, to sunny Southern California.

Along the way, he’s lost a bit of the accent and picked up some UFC gold, several movie roles and a healthy dose of appreciation.

“I’ve got so much going on since I moved out here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a proud Brit, of course I am,” the Anaheim Hills resident said. “But out here the people are fantastic. The weather is great – look at this, it’s pretty much November for crying out loud. Lots of opportunity, great food, great people, diverse cultures, it’s an amazing place to live. My children are in great schools. It’s a great place to be.”

If the right perspective makes the impossible possible, consider Bisping the poster child.

Life wasn’t the easiest growing up in Clitheroe, Lancashire. Bisping’s mom, who was born in Northern Ireland, developed polio at a young age and spent part of her life in hospitals and in a wheelchair. His father was in the British Army for 20 years until a blast left him with a bad back injury.

Times were tough, yet Bisping says the family never lacked for food, clothing or a roof over their heads. For what it was, life was good.

As much as he wanted to transition his martial arts training as a kid into a career, reality stared him in the face. Bisping worked several blue-collar jobs – factories, slaughterhouses, construction. You name it, he probably did it.

The days of struggling to put gas in his car – and nights of sleeping in that same car – are behind him, but he still checks that rear-view mirror.

“Believe it or not, contrary to how people may perceive what I say, I‘m a very humble, hard-working, working-class guy. And I’ve worked minimum wage, I’ve done all that,” Bisping said. “Granted it was long time ago now, but I never want to go back to that.”

So Bisping toils gladly for a better life for his wife Rebecca and their three children. They, and his not-so-distant past, are what motivate him to keep fighting.

“I want to make sure I can give them everything I can because it’s an uncertain world we live in. You never know what’s around the corner,” Bisping said. “So that motivates me to try and stack up as many chips as you can so my family are secure going down the line.”

Making just his second title defense – and his first in 14 months – Bisping (31-7) should get a healthy paycheck for headlining UFC 217 in New York City against a fighter making his long-awaited return.

St-Pierre (25-2), 36, is a two-time welterweight champion, with his second title reign lasting nearly six years, during which he made 11 title defenses. The Montreal superstar walked away from the sport four years ago and is coming back to challenge for a title in a weight class 15 pounds heavier than the one he once ruled.

And he wants what Bisping has.

“It’s the calm before the storm,” St-Pierre said at a press conference Thursday in New York. “He’s got a big mouth. … If he wants to waste his energy like this, it’s all good. I’ve got one goal in mind and that’s it.”

St-Pierre has vowed to retire Bisping, and there have been several rumors of Bisping hanging up the gloves after this fight.

Bisping says they are just that – rumors – and he sees himself beating St-Pierre and maybe defending the belt a couple more times.

“I’m not the guy that’s saying I want to retire. It’s my wife, it’s people close to me because I’ve done this forever. I’ve done it for a long, long time,” Bisping said. “I do have a few things going on outside the Octagon now, so life’s good, I’ve got other endeavors, couple of business things, but I love doing this.”

For all the back-and-forth banter, Bisping insists he doesn’t dislike St-Pierre. In fact, he admires him and sees him as a role model for younger fighters. “Consummate professional, he’s a good person, he’s a martial artist, he’s always learning, he’s always training safe, all this type of stuff. Nothing negative to say, hell of a fighter, but we’re going to fight.”

All the verbage beforehand is gamesmanship. Trying to get into St-Pierre’s head and throw him off his game. Tilt the scales a bit before the first punches are thrown.

Tonight in Madison Square Garden, as he makes the walk to “Song 2” by Blur, that is what Bisping truly relishes: being locked in a cage with someone for 25 minutes of combat.

Now, there is no misunderstanding. Bisping believes he will walk out still carrying the gold.

“I’ve developed into a knockout artist: punches, kicks, flying knees, everything. So I’m going to try and knock Georges out and he’s going to try and take me down,” Bisping said. “It’s going to be a great fight, and just don’t miss it because I haven’t done all this work to lose.

“I haven’t come this far in my journey to lose to a (damn) welterweight. I’ll never hear the end of it if I lose this fight. So I’m going to win, simple as that.”

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